Natural EvilNatural Evil is all the causes of suffering and includes all evil caused by natural means – not by human doing. This could include natural disasters, droughts, disease, or even being killed by an animal. In all these there is no human perpetrator to blame for the “infliction” of evil. Natural is the broad term covering all these things. Natural Evil stands in contrast to moral evil. Moral Evil

Moral evil is the broad term covering all evil where there evil “inflicted” does have a human perpetrator/s. This could include murder or rape or child abuse. These terrible crimes can only be committed by humans. Why does Evil and Suffering cause a problem for Christians and other religious people?

The problem of evil causes a problem for Christians because Christians claim belief in a God who is Omnipotent (all powerful), Omniscient (all seeing) Benevolent (all loving), perfect, good and holy. However, even with all of these traits, God does not seem to “care” that there is so much evil and suffering in the world. Even with millions of people dying of cancer every year. Murders occurring almost regularly there are many things that could be mentioned. And even with all of this going on God does not “do” anything. The questions that could be asked are: If God is all omniscient, why can’t he see the evil about to happen and then, because he is omnipotent, why can’t he stop it, or give someone the power or ideas to stop it? Surely he would want to do this because he is all loving? If God is all loving why did he create a world that can wreak such evil as hurricanes and other atrocities upon the world? And even so, if he is all powerful why can’t he stop it from happening? And surely if he truly was benevolent why wouldn’t he? A Christians Response to the Problem of Evil

As a Christian myself I shall be answering this as a personal response. The first argument is the idea of free will: Free will is the concept that...

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...Philosophy Essay - The Problem of Evil
Part A - Compare and contrast the theodicies of Augustine and Irenaeus
Both Augustine and Irenaeus attempt to explain the existence of evil in their theodicies, though have different explanations for its existence. Theodicies put forward the argument that God has a reason for allowing the existence of evil separated into moral evil (for example, the holocaust) and naturalevil (Haiti earthquake). Theodicies attempt to rationalise evil whilst retaining the key attributes of God (omnipotence and omni-benevolence) in a response to the logical problem for the existence of evil which states that it is logically impossible that evil exists if God has the traditional attributes. This is referred to as the inconsistent triad as the existence of evil suggests that God is either willing to help but cannot do so (in which case he is not omnipotent) or not completely morally perfect (omni-benevolent). Thus, the logical argument attempts to give explanations for the problem of evil by taking away either the omnipotence or all-loving nature of God whereas theodicies maintain these key attributes.
Although the theodicies of Augustine and Irenaeus reach different conclusions as to the problem of evil, they do share some fundamental...

...﻿EMMANUEL SAGWETE (916)
DPL 314 PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
FR. A. RUTSVIGA
28 OCTOBER 2010
Critically expose the problem of evil.
Evil is a privation of the good. The problem of evil “arises from the paradox of an omnibenevolent, omnipotent deity’s allowing the existence of evil” (Pojman 1987: 151). The Judeo-Christian tradition affirmed that God is omnipotent, omniscient and perfectly good. The same tradition also affirmed the existence of evil. The presence of evil, this privation of the good, is taken to be one of the arguments against the existence of God. The presence of evil has presented philosophers since the earliest times of thinkers like Socrates and Plato with a difficult, a problem, of how its presence can be explained. To Christian philosophers, the problem of evil has become a problem of how its presence can be reconciled with the presence of a God who is said to be omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent when the two are contraries.
If God has all the attributes he is said to have, then one would be tempted to say that there would be no evil in the world. It would be “logically meaningful to say that an omnipotent God could destroy if he so desires and a benevolent God would certainly destroy evil since he is good and loving” (Vardy 1999: 149). Thus...

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The Problem of Evil
One of the most interesting questions in the world is, “If a God exists, why is there evil in the world?” Most people respond with, “If God created the universe and us, then there should not be evil in the world,” when asked about God or any other powerful being. The problem of evil is also believed to be the cause of Atheism, and I do believe that there is a solution for this. The problem of evil is not a correct argument.
The arguments from evil state that if there is a God who is omniscient, omnipotent and perfectly good, then there would be no evil or suffering in the world. Evil does exist, therefore, god does not exist. If God existed, he would not allow evil into the world (VanPatten, lecture). I learned in church that Christianity says God created the world and wants only the best. If these claims are true, then evil should not exist. The problem of evil has been the strongest and longest arguments against the existence of God for Atheists.
Atheists believe that if there really was an omniscient, omnipotent and good God or higher being, then he has the power to eliminate all evil and wipe it from the universe. However, Atheists believe that suffering cannot be prevented, therefore, God does not exist to...

...The Problem of Evil
To present the topic of “the problem with evil,” without acknowledging there is a God can be confusing. I think one of the best questions that you could ask is, why does God allow evil being a perfect and loving God (Elwell, pg 413
There are different types of evil that are allowed in this world. The first is moral evil, which began in the garden of Eden when Eve ate the fruit off the tree and deliberately disobeyed God in an act of sin and evil (Gen. 3)(Elwell, pg 412). The next is natural evil; this is explained mainly in natural disasters such as, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and disease. Elwell writes, “natural evil is the consequence of moral evil,” then goes onto explain that natural evil is not distinct from moral evil, but is not separate from it either (Elwell, 412). Three things that Satan used to tempt Eve in the garden that caused her to commit disobedience to God were; lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Towns, pg 496). Satan’s strategies have not changed very much, and he still uses the same tricks thousands of years later.
When you try to explain why there is sin among mankind Elwell writes a great point and says, “Eve and then Adam violated the divine command by eating the forbidden fruit,” . . . therefore...

...A Critical Analysis on the Problem of Evil (Theistic Approach)
Thesis Statement: The problem of evil is inadequate to disprove the existence of God.
The Problem of Evil coined by Epicurus states that: “Either God wants to eradicate evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can but does not want to he is wicked. If God can eradicateevil, and He wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?” This problem has long bothered many theologians and philosophers, even St. Thomas Aquinas stated that it is a major objection to the existence of God. Undoubtedly, evil exists and its mere existence is so evident that it would be preposterous to deny it and since we cannot deny its existence, we must then try to prove that its existence would not oppose the existence of God. In this paper, I will try to explain the problem of evil through our free will, and the causes and consequences that are brought by natural evil then I will also attempt to enumerate the root causes of evil and the possible purpose of its existence. On the first part of this paper, I will explain that moral evil is just a byproduct of our wrong choices and it will be followed by the relation of natural evil to the...

...John Hick defined evil as “physical pain, mental suffering and moral wickedness” For Hick, the consequence of evil is suffering
NATURAL EVIL
The apparent malfunctioning of the natural world e.g. diseases and natural disasters
MORAL EVIL
The result of human immorality e.g. genocide
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
The monotheistic God of Christianity, Judaism and Islam assumes the divine qualities of omnipotence, omniscience and omni benevolence. However, the existence of evil and suffering in the world provides a challenge to the loving God of classical theism.
AUGUSTINE
Augustine, in his book ‘Confessions,’ recognised this problem:
“Either God is not able to abolish evil or not willing; if he is not able then he is not all-powerful, if he is not willing then he is not all-good.”
INCONSISTENT TRIAD
The problem of evil can be viewed as an inconsistent triad:
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The three are logically inconsistent. If God is omnipotent, he is aware of the existing evil and suffering and knows how to put a stop to it. If God is omni benevolent he will want to put a stop to it. Yet evil and suffering does exist.
DAVID HUME
The atheist David Hume argued that only three possibilities exist:
I. God is not omnipotent
II. God is not omni benevolent
III. Evil does not exist
Since we have...

...The Problem of Evil Essay
1) Suffering can create philosophical problem for a religious believer because in the
entire Christian view of the world, the Problem of Evil and Suffering is one of the
biggest criticisms philosophers and ordinary people face, as they find it hard to prove
this theory wrong while still proving that God exists. If god is all powerful, has
created the universe and is totally responsible for it, and can do anything that is
logically possible, then he could end evil and suffering. If god is all knowing, he must
know how to stop evil and suffering. If god is all loving, he would wish to end evil and
suffering as he would choose for his creation to live in the world of evil and suffering.
Natural evil raises the problem of why god created a universe capable of acting in
such violent ways, moral evil demands an answer to the question why god created
human beings who could choose evil, as well as good. These can be further
subdivided into Physical evil and metaphysical evil. ​
Epicurus (342-270) posed this
question-“Is god willing to prevent evil, and not able? Then he is impotent, Is he
able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then why
is there evil? If he is neither able nor willing,...

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The Problem of Evil
No matter what you believe, all religions try to prevent evil from happening. Through beliefs of karma, good deeds equal good life and vice versa, or treating others the way you want to be treated the central theme is goodness. Evil is created by people and how we interpret other people’s actions. Not all people believe the same types of things are evil, some find mental disease as a scientific diagnosis others a possession of the devil. Some people define evil as anyone different from their skin, religious belief, or everyday mannerisms. The Holocaust is one major example of evil in action. Hitler thought he was doing a good thing by getting rid of all the Jews and others who were different from him and so did his followers. The rest of the world saw it as pure evil and did everything they could to stop or try to prevent more and more Jews from dying.
Many people have different perceptions of evil and its origin. Some question “If God is all powerful and amazing why would he create evil? Why not just let everyone live in happiness and harmony?” It is hard to answer questions like these because not all people have the same morals or values as other people. Some value separate gods who have different worldly tasks, others one powerful and almighty God creator of heaven and earth, and some who don’t...